Because of the variance in the moon's orbit, its distance from Earth varies.

Saturday night it was only 355,000 kilometres away.

That made it appear 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than usual. The moon hasn't been that close to Earth since March 1993.

As well as providing a night time spectacle, it also impacts both high and low tides. High and low tides may be two to three centimetres higher or lower, but in some areas the difference could be as much as 15 centimetres.